Social housing helps over 400,000 households

About 406,000 households were being assisted by social housing
nationally in June 2009, according to a report released today by
the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report, A profile of social housing in Australia,
provides an overview of the different social housing programs that
were provided under the most recent Commonwealth State Housing
Agreement (CSHA), which was in place from 2003 to 2008, and the
first six months of the National Affordable Housing Agreement
(NAHA), which was introduced in January 2009. (Most initiatives
under NAHA were to take effect after June 2009.)

It shows that, in 2009, 81%of households being assisted by
social housing were in public rental housing, while 9% were in
mainstream community housing (social housing managed by the
not-for-profit sector).

Over the life of the CSHA the number of community housing
dwellings increased considerably, while at the same time there was
a decline in public rental housing stock. By 2008-09 almost half of
the new allocations to social housing were to mainstream community
housing, despite representing only about 10% of total stock in
social housing.

'In 2008-09, over 170,000 households were on waiting lists for
public rental housing,' said Kate Mallen, Head of the Institute's
Housing Unit.

'Allocations of public rental housing were increasingly
rationed, with over 60% of newly assisted households assessed as
being in 'greatest need'-more than double the rate of these
allocations in 2003-04,' Ms Mallen said.

The report shows the demographic profile of households in social
housing changed little over the course of the CSHA agreement.

'Households were mainly on very low incomes and the majority
received a government pension as their main source of income,' Ms
Mallen said.

Older single people made up the highest proportion of household
types. The median age for tenants in public rental housing is 54
years, and 44 years for tenants in state owned and managed
Indigenous housing (SOMIH), compared to the median age of 37 years
for all people in the Australian population.

As social housing generally offers affordable rents and some
security of tenure, tenants largely report being satisfied and the
majority of tenants in public rental and mainstream community
housing had lived in the same dwelling for more than 5 years.

Occupancy rates were over 90% across social housing, and higher
in major cities, where most social housing dwellings are
located.